GANDHIAN TRUSTEESHIP – PANACEA FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC EVILS

Mahatma Gandhi opened up
a new chapter in human history by offering a new set of thoughts and strategies
steeped in human dignity. He offered some remedial prescriptions for almost all
socio-economic maladies affecting our lives. The notable thing about Gandhi is
that he was constantly growing in his outlook and continuously changing in his
thought for the better and mature ideas. Therefore he could easily accept the
change in conformity with the changing world which were refined and conditioned
by his deep humanistic mosaic of belief and culture. He discussed almost all
the issues ranging from production to distribution, wealth to poverty,
education to employment, war to peace, and environment to balance of power and
so on.

Gandhi was one of the
greatest revolutionaries and one of the greatest leaders of all time. His
ideals and vision were equally revolutionary whereby he suggested the principle
of Trusteeship and other innovative economic doctrines. Through his ideas of
trusteeship and other economic principles he strove to lay the foundation of a
modern model-State on the basis of ethical, spiritual moral as well as
practical considerations. Gandhi’s thoughts on
economic systems evolved over time and they incorporated the good of both
Capitalism and Socialism. His economic principles were not based on hardcore
economic theories and every thought of Gandhi may not be relevant today; but
Gandhian economics is very comprehensive to deal with many present day issues. Trusteeship
was based on the trust between the ruler and the ruled. He suggested that there
should be a minimum wage and maximum ceiling on the capitalist’s income and
property. He was against the exploitative features of capitalism, though he was
never against the capitalists. He wrote in an issue of Horijan in 1939, “I am
not ashamed to own that many capitalists are friendly towards me and do not
fear me. They know that I desire to end capitalism, almost, if not quite, as
much as the most advanced Socialist or even Communist. But our methods differ,
our languages differ. My theory of trusteeship is no make-shift, certainly no
camouflage.” Herein lies the greatness of Gandhi because the language and
methods he used did not encourage spilling of blood. Persuasion and non-violent
assertion to convince the opponent were the hallmarks of his approach. The philosophy of Trusteeship involved the capitalists and
landlords in the service of society without any element of coercion. He invited
those people, who considered themselves as owners
of their wealth to act as trustees. According to Gandhi, if an individual had a
fair amount of wealth—either by way of legacy, or by means of trade and
industry — he must know that all that wealth did not belonged to him; what
belonged to him was the right to an honourable livelihood, no better than that
enjoyed by millions of others. The rest of his wealth belonged to the community
and must be used for the welfare of the community. As for the owners of wealth,
Gandhi maintained that “they will have to make their choice between class war
and voluntarily converting themselves into trustees of their wealth. They will
be allowed to retain the stewardship of their possessions and to use their
talent, to increase the wealth, not for their own sakes, but for the sake of
the nation and, therefore, without exploitation. When the people understand the
implications of trusteeship and the atmosphere is ripe for it, the people
themselves, beginning with gram panchayats, will begin to introduce such
statutes.” Gandhi was against the physical liquidation of the
capitalists and landlords. Yet he believed that their exploitation had to end.
This could be done if the landlords and the capitalists acted as trustees of
the poor. His doctrine of Trusteeship was designed to work in all spheres of
life. “Like parents acting as trustees for their children, the government
should act as trustees of those who have chosen them to be their representatives.
The trustee, by its implications, meant that he is not the owner. The owner is
one whose interest he is called upon to protect” .

Gandhi wanted capitalists to act as trustees
(not owners) of their property and conduct themselves in a socially responsible
way. The present day concept of Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) is rooted in the principle of Gandhian Trusteeship
which links Corporate Sector to Social Sector. It is now gaining popularity in
our society which is plagued by increasing inequalities. It emphasizes the fact
that the corporate sector, which earns profit through the sale of its goods and
services in the society, has some responsibility towards it as well. This is
essential to promote growth with equity and to achieve an inclusive society.
Increasing number of industrial houses is taking active interest in the welfare
of the employees, their families and society at large. Starting from the
provision of basic necessities like drinking water, primary education, health
facilities to the development of environment friendly technologies on
regional/national or even international scale, they are working in various
spheres. In taking up few initiatives, some of them also have undertaken
various social works. By doing so, they are not only able to advertise their
products but are also selling them to the beneficiaries of their activities.
Some of them are involved in the charity work like provision of mid day meals
to school children. Many of them have their own NGOs operating at ground level,
and in other cases they are involving the civil society in their activities. Economists and many CEOs argue
that the role of business is to maximize shareholder profits, whereas the CSR
community talks about contribution to society for the greater good. Thus the
essential problem about the role of business cannot be resolved within the
current framework unless the element of Trusteeship is incorporated. The TATA
group of companies has declared that it is based around this principle.
Trusteeship is the model of responsibility that best describes the group
founder – JRD Tata’s view of himself and his role in the world. Hence the
relevance of trusteeship lies in the fact that it provides a means of transforming the
present capitalist order of society into an egalitarian one. It gives no quarter
to capitalism, but gives the present owning class a chance of reforming itself.
It is based on the faith that human nature is never beyond redemption.

About the Author:
The author, Mr. Anupam Thakuria is working as Associate Professor and Head, Department
of Economics at North- Guwahati College, Guwahati, Assam, India. A good numbers
of research articles of the author have been published in many reputed
journals. Creative writing is also his interesting area and published in many
magazines, edited books etc. [Read More]

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